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In the United States,
You can find me in a camp and in a city,
You can find me in a creek and in a grove,
You can find me on a hill and on a land.

You call my nicknames all the time,
You are addicted to me,
But if you are careless,
I will kill you.

You saw me alone in 2008 and 2013,
But you saw me with my girl friend in 2001 and 2006.
You know who I am,
But will you find out?

Please explain your answer. There are many clues in that riddle, try to find them all.

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  • $\begingroup$ "In the United States..." - does this require US specific cultural/geographic/political knowledge? $\endgroup$
    – Alconja
    May 15, 2015 at 13:09
  • $\begingroup$ @Alconja Yes, you need some specific knowledge. But you can find it on internet. That's how I found the reference. $\endgroup$
    – A.D.
    May 15, 2015 at 13:29

6 Answers 6

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The answer is

SUGAR.

I found this after seeing the OP's comment that Ethan the Brave's answer was on the right tracks.

In the United States,
You can find me in a camp and in a city,
You can find me in a creek and in a grove,
You can find me on a hill and on a land.

Sugar Camp, Sugar City, Sugar Creek, Sugar Grove, Sugar Hill, and Sugar Land are all places in the United States.

You call my nicknames all the time,

"Sugar" is sometimes used as an affectionate nickname.

You are addicted to me,

Many people have a 'sweet tooth', as though they're addicted to sugar.

But if you are careless,
I will kill you.

People with diabetes have to be careful about sugar.

You saw me alone in 2008 and 2013,

Films called Sugar came out in 2008 and 2013.

But you saw me with my girl friend in 2001 and 2006.

2001 Sugar Bowl and 2006 Sugar Bowl?

You know who I am,
But will you find out?

Stylistic with no extra clues.

If anyone's interested in my solving strategy: the OP's comment to Narmer told me the first verse meant there were places called X Camp, X City, X Creek, and so on in the US and I just had to find X. The title, together with the OP's comment to Ethan the Brave, told me it was something close to honey. Sugar immediately came to mind, and the rest was Googling.

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    $\begingroup$ Good job. You got it. The reference for 2001 and 2006 was movies called "Sugar and Spice". Where spice was your girl friend like in "spice girl". $\endgroup$
    – A.D.
    May 15, 2015 at 17:58
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Is it...

Honey?

Because...

[Honey,] I shrunk the kids!

In the United States, You can find me in a camp and in a city, You can find me in a creek and in a grove, You can find me on a hill and on a land.

There are a ton of places that have "Honey" in the name in the US.

You call my nicknames all the time,

It's used as a nickname and variations of it as well.

You are addicted to me,

Well it's delicious. Don't judge me.

But if you are careless, I will kill you.

Honey-induced death is probably a thing. Diabetes?

You saw me alone in 2008 and 2013, But you saw me with my girl friend in 2001 and 2006.

I honestly don't know how to make this one fit...

You know who I am, But will you find out?

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  • $\begingroup$ I wondered that too, but I figured it was too much of a stretch for pretty much everything except the title, hahaha. $\endgroup$
    – CactusCake
    May 15, 2015 at 15:58
  • $\begingroup$ You are on right tracks. It's not honey though. $\endgroup$
    – A.D.
    May 15, 2015 at 16:23
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I think it's

Gold

In the United States, You can find me in a camp and in a city,

Ft. Knox, and any number of bank vaults in cities.

You can find me in a creek and in a grove,

Panning for gold

You can find me on a hill and on a land.

Mining for gold

You call my nicknames all the time,

There are a lot of slang terms for gold

You are addicted to me,

Plenty of people go to long lengths to get as much gold as possible

But if you are careless, I will kill you.

not sure about this one, but then, if you are careless pretty much anything could kill you

You saw me alone in 2008 and 2013, But you saw me with my girl friend in 2001 and 2006. You know who I am, But will you find out?

No idea what this section is referring to. Maybe Olympic medals?

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  • $\begingroup$ I like your thinking, but that's not gold +1 $\endgroup$
    – A.D.
    May 15, 2015 at 13:30
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I think it is "Hurricane"

In the United States, You can find me in a camp and in a city, You can find me in a creek and in a grove, You can find me on a hill and on a land.

Hurricane Campground, Hurricane (Utah), Hurricane Creek (Alabama), Hurricane Grove (Arkansas), Hurricane Hill (Washington), Hurricanes which make landfall?

You call my nicknames all the time, You are addicted to me, But if you are careless, I will kill you.

Hurricanes classified by names. Stormchasers become addicted.

You saw me alone in 2008 and 2013, But you saw me with my girl friend in 2001 and 2006.

On a limb here, because I can't find definative info, but assuming maybe only a male named hurricanes made landfall in 2008, 2013, whereas male and female named hurricanes in 2001 and 2006?

You know who I am, But will you find out?

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  • $\begingroup$ Really nice answer. It is not the expected one though $\endgroup$
    – A.D.
    May 15, 2015 at 17:01
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Is the answer

Guns/Weapons

In the United States, You can find me in a camp and in a city, You can find me in a creek and in a grove, You can find me on a hill and on a land.

The US allows gun owners pretty much anywhere, unlike many other countries

You call my nicknames all the time, You are addicted to me, But if you are careless, I will kill you.

There are many different names for different guns. There is a very prevalent gun culture in America, and some would say is an addiction. More gun related deaths in America are accidents by the owner or a member of the family.

You saw me alone in 2008 and 2013, But you saw me with my girl friend in 2001 and 2006.

In from 2008-2013, there was an ammunition shortage in the US. In 2001 and 2006, the United States were in major conflicts, where guns would be paired with bullets as much as possible. This could also be a reference to the WMD scares at those times

I shrunk the kids

Shrink ray gun, obviously!

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  • $\begingroup$ Nice try. It's not guns though +1 $\endgroup$
    – A.D.
    May 15, 2015 at 14:42
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I think it's

The sun

In the United States,
You can find me in a camp and in a city,
You can find me in a creek and in a grove,
You can find me on a hill and on a land.

Camp rising sun and Sun City, Sun Creek and Sun Grove, Sun Hill and Sun Land and obviously the sun is everywhere in those spots (they're all outside).

You call my nicknames all the time,

There are a lot of names which refer to the sun

You are addicted to me,

Yep, tanning can create addiction to someone... Also sun is, ehr, quite vital.

But if you are careless, I will kill you.

Sun can harm in multiple ways, from sun burn to blindness to solar storm

You saw me alone in 2008 and 2013,
But you saw me with my girl friend in 2001 and 2006.
You know who I am, But will you find out?

The girlfriend is obviously the moon, in 2008 and 2013 there was a lunar eclipse, while in 2001 and 2006 there was a solar eclipse.

Still

I don't think this is correct :(

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  • $\begingroup$ This is not the answer I am expecting but you're on the right track for the first part of the riddle +1 $\endgroup$
    – A.D.
    May 15, 2015 at 15:43
  • $\begingroup$ Everything comes from the last block about eclipses, it was too much perfect to not give a try. But all the others answers are a bit stretched... $\endgroup$
    – Narmer
    May 15, 2015 at 15:46
  • $\begingroup$ I haven't check eclipse schedules before writing it :). It is really surprising that it match the schedule I used $\endgroup$
    – A.D.
    May 15, 2015 at 16:24

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